Chapter 291 Those People Killed Ping An
late at night.
Song Zhuran stood at the entrance of the house behind the Prince of Jin's residence.
It took a full hour for the door to open from the inside.
Song Zhuran walked in happily, "Master, I knew you would be reluctant to part with me."
The man kept turning the thumb ring on his left index finger, then slowly turned around, revealing a pair of eyes as cold as frost in the twelfth lunar month. "Didn't I tell you not to make any rash moves?"
Song Zhuran acted as if she hadn't done anything wrong, saying, "Of course, I will listen to my master, but this is not my fault."
"It's Princess Ping'an's own fault for being foolish, how can you blame me? Master, could it be...?"
"I was afraid of alerting them. Did you think that the Prince of Langya and Jiang Wan Ning were here today just to identify you, Young Master Xuan?"
Song Zhuran was startled. "What does Master mean?"
“They’re using you to lure out me from behind you. If I had been a step slower, you would have definitely made your move. You’re just Young Master Xuan; at most, you’d be punished.”
“But if you take action today and kill that shopkeeper, Xiao Yu will also become suspicious of you.”
Song Zhuran breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought it was something serious. Master, you're too cautious. Why would Xiao Yu care about these things?"
"Never underestimate the paranoia of an emperor," the man said in a deep voice.
"In short, nothing like what happened today should ever happen again. Granny Xi was my secret agent who had been hiding by the Grand Princess's side for so many years. It would be too worthless for her to die today."
"Alright, disciple understands, master."
“Alright, now that you are a noble lady in the palace, it is not appropriate for you to stay outside for long. Go back as soon as possible,” the man said.
Song Zhuran pouted, dissatisfied, "Is it because Ranran entered the palace this way that Master is unhappy?"
"Master, rest assured, Ranran only has you in her heart. If it weren't for you, Ranran would have died long ago. So Ranran can't have anyone else in her eyes."
"Ranran isn't that stupid. How could she really have anything happen with Xiao Yu? She just drugged him and made him sleep. He just felt tired when he woke up."
"However, now that my sister suspects me, she is pregnant again, and there is that annoying Jiang Wan Ning by my side, I'm afraid it won't be easy for me to make a move again."
The man remained silent, listening quietly to Song Zhuran speak.
Song Zhuran tentatively suggested, "Ranran has a good idea. Since Sister is pregnant, Ranran can also get pregnant..."
The man naturally understood what Song Zhuran meant; she hadn't had any relations with Xiao Yu, so how could she be pregnant?
It's nothing more than faking a pregnancy or pretending to be pregnant with someone else.
The man understood that Song Zhuran wanted the latter, and that the person she wanted was himself.
"The matter is still undecided, and I don't want to get involved. I'm afraid it might become a handle for others to use against me in the future. Do you understand?"
Although Song Zhuran was disappointed, she obediently nodded, "Ranran understands."
“Master used to say that Ranran was still young, but now Ranran has passed her coming-of-age ceremony and has nominally had a relationship with Xiao Yu.”
“Master said that important matters are still undecided, so Ranran will help Master decide on important matters in his heart, hoping that Master will not push Ranran away again.”
After speaking, Song Zhuran waited quietly for the man's response.
After a long pause, the man simply replied with a soft "okay," and Song Zhuran jumped up excitedly.
"Alright, let's go back first." The man turned around and ruffled Song Zhuran's hair, "so that no one will find out."
"Behave yourself during this time and don't make any moves. I bet you have a lot of tails following you."
"Ranran will listen to Master," Song Zhuran said with a smile. "Ranran will go back now."
Song Zhuran took two steps and then turned back to look at the man, saying, "Master, don't worry, Ranran will not let any other man touch Ranran, not even Xiao Yu."
He turned and left.
......
Early the next morning,
The joyous occasion at the Grand Princess's residence turned into a tragedy. After sending Princess Ping'an to a rite of passage, the Grand Princess sat calmly in her armchair.
"Your Highness, you've been sitting for three hours. You should at least have some tea." A male concubine brought tea to the Grand Princess.
The Grand Princess slowly opened her eyes, looked down at the teacup, and said in a hoarse voice, "Go to the storeroom and collect the hundred taels of silver if no one is there, then leave."
Upon hearing this, all the male concubines immediately knelt on the ground with a thud. "Your Highness, Your Highness, if we have not served you well, please punish us as you see fit, but please do not send us away."
They also understood that all they needed to do at the Grand Princess's residence was to please her; the best food and drink would be provided, and there would even be a group of servants to wait on them.
However, if they were to leave the Grand Princess's residence, although one hundred taels of silver could sustain an ordinary person for a lifetime, their status would likely lead to them being left to rot in the wilderness the moment they stepped out of that door.
The Grand Princess was dressed in a black brocade robe. Unlike usual, she did not wear her hair loose. Instead, she wore her hair in a high bun, and all the hairpins on her head were black. In her hand, she held the string of beads that Princess Ping'an had liked the most when she was alive.
"I am doing this for your own good," the Grand Princess said. "If you leave this house, you might still find a chance to survive. But if you stay here, what I am about to do will be a matter of life and death."
"Those of you who aren't afraid of death can stay."
The male concubines looked at each other in bewilderment, and then quietly withdrew.
After a stick of incense had burned, the steward stepped forward and reported, "Your Highness, those people left with the silver and also took quite a few other things with them."
"Should I send someone..." The steward made a throat-slitting gesture.
The Grand Princess gave a self-deprecating laugh, "Let them be."
"They won't live for more than an hour anyway."
Long before they arrived, the Grand Princess had something added to the breakfast she had prepared. She simply didn't want the princess's residence to be stained with blood, as Ping An disliked blood the most during her lifetime.
What if her soul doesn't come back to see her?
"Ping An, don't worry. I will kill all those who hurt you and send them down to join you."
"And if you like someone, whether he is a man or a woman, your mother will let him go down to keep you company, and she will also find someone who looks like him, so you can choose whatever you want."
"Your Highness..." the steward suggested, "Should we investigate this matter further?"
The steward of the Grand Princess's residence was an old colleague who had served the Grand Princess for many years, just like Granny He Xi.
"Uncle Yang, what do you have to say?" the Grand Princess asked directly.
The steward hesitated for a moment before speaking, "This servant only discovered some things in Granny Xi's room. She must have been disloyal to His Highness long ago."
"This servant is wondering if this is a trap, waiting for Your Highness to fall into it."
"In any case, those people killed Ping An, that's a fact!" the Grand Princess said. "As for Granny Xi, that's a surprise to me."
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